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A Director of the Community 21 Board since 2011, Lauren Bean brings extensive expertise in management, marketing and communications from both the private and not-for-profit sectors. After five years of serving on the C21 Board, Lauren reflects on the past as well as expresses her future vision for C21.

C21 Director since 2011, Lauren Bean

Following the resignation of Community 21 co-founder and Executive Director Peter Quarmby in April this year, the Community 21 Board is taking some time to redefine itself, re-position itself within the sector, and most importantly, create better value for its shareholder organisations.

Lauren’s vision for C21 is to see it create larger scale social impact by better collaborating with its 38 shareholder organisations.

“We have a unique bird’s eye view of our 38 shareholders, whose work is spread across six main areas of the sector, including social disadvantage, disability, housing and employment services. I would like to see Community 21 use its ability to innovate and bring people together to facilitate powerful collective impact through our shareholder network.”

“Community 21’s biggest achievement to date has been the creation of a banking service for the NFP sector – Community Sector Banking. Whilst it’s nice to remind ourselves of the bank’s success, C21 has an opportunity to open a new chapter, and use the same entrepreneurial spirit that created CSB to do more social good. We want to help our shareholder organisations achieve their missions – missions that address the nation’s big social challenges,” said Ms Bean.

“We can do this together with the backing of (and half-ownership of) a banking service that truly understands us – Community Sector Banking,” she said.

“We are looking forward to engaging more with our shareholders and rewarding them for their investment in C21 by delivering back exceptional value.”

“Watch this space!”

Community 21 is presently undergoing consultation with shareholder organisations to discuss the best ways to deliver collective impact.

About Lauren

Lauren is currently the CEO of Cara Inc., a not-for-profit community organisation which provides residential services and support programs to vulnerable and disadvantaged young women, in particular, teenage mothers.

Prior to moving to Cara, Lauren was the Acting CEO of St Luke’s Anglicare, a regional community services organisation based in Bendigo. Lauren supervised support services for children, youth and families, along with a range of home care services including foster care, kinship, residential care and mental health support. Lauren’s role also embraced disability and community services including financial counselling.

Before entering the NFP sector, Lauren worked in several senior management positions within the private sector, including at the National Australia Bank and the Nine Television Network.

Lauren holds a Master’s degree in Communications and is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Her other Directorships include Community Sector Banking and Remembrance Parks, Central Victoria.